Collin Morikawa did everything he could on Saturday to keep up with Scottie Scheffler and even came within two strokes of the world number 1.

But when it felt like Morikawa was taking a step forward, Scheffler took two.

Scheffler birdied the last five holes at East Lake to finish the third round of the Tour Championship five strokes ahead of Morikawa and nine strokes ahead of everyone else.

But that’s with starting strokes. Without them, Scheffler would be one stroke behind Morikawa.

This is the sixth year of the Tour Championship’s starting strokes format, which translates FedEx Cup standings into starting scores for each of the 30 players who advance all the way to the final event of the season. To see how everyone started the week, click here for the full breakdown.

Scottie Scheffler entered the week as the FedEx Cup leader for the third straight season, starting the tournament with a two-stroke lead (10 under). However, he still hasn’t won the season finale and the FedEx Cup title.

In 2022, he even had a bigger lead (six strokes) over Rory McIlroy, but in the final round he shot a 73, allowing McIlroy to pass him.

This year it’s Collin Morikawa chasing him down and without the starting strokes it’s a much closer battle. Morikawa and Scheffler are 17 and 16 under for the week without their starting strokes, two strokes better than everyone else in the field.

Coincidentally, Morikawa started the week at four under, the same spot McIlroy started his 2022 winning week. So anything is possible. But as we all know, this is a very different Scottie Scheffler than in 2022.

And the strokeless leaderboard isn’t entirely meaningless. The Official World Golf Ranking will use it to allocate points from this week’s event. So while Scheffler could end up with the FedEx Cup title, and the $25 million that comes with it, while extending his massive lead in the standings, Morikawa could end up with a bigger bump.

Continue reading below to see what the full Tour Championship standings would look like without beginning strokes.

Tour Championship standings without a hit

(Official scores to par)

1. Collin Morikawa, (-17) 196 (-21)

2. Scottie Scheffler, (-16) 197 (-26)

3. Sahith Theegala, (-14) 199 (-17)

4. Adam Scott, (-12) 201 (-15)

5. Wyndham Clark, (-11) 202 (-15)

T6.Sam Brandt, (-10) 203 (-14)
Shane Lowry (-13)

T8. Xander Schauffele, (-8) 205 (-16)
I am Sungjae (-11)
Victor Hovland (-10)
Russel Henley (-10)
Taylor Pendrith (-9)
Justin Thomas (-8)

14. Rory McIlroy, (-7) 206 (-11)

T15. Ludwig Aberg, (-6) 207 (-11)
Matthieu Pavon (-7)

T17.Hideki Matsuyama, (-5) 208 (-12)
Tommy Fleetwood (-6)
Aaron Rai (-5)

T20. Hello Hun An, (-4) 209 (-6)
Sepp Straka (-5)

T22.Patrick Cantlay, (-3) 210 (-7)
Tony Finau (-6)
Akshay Bhatia (-5)

T25.Robert MacIntyre, (-2) 211 (-4)
Chris Kirk (-2)

T27.Bill Horschel (E)213 (-1)
Christian Bezuidenhout (E)
Tom Hoge (E)

30. Keegan Bradley, (+1) 214 (-5)

Jack Hirsch

Golf.com Editor

Jack Hirsh is an assistant editor at GOLF. Originally from Pennsylvania, Jack is a 2020 graduate of Penn State University, where he earned degrees in broadcast journalism and political science. He was captain of his high school golf team and recently returned to the program to serve as head coach. Jack also *still* tries to stay competitive in local amateurs. Prior to GOLF, Jack worked for two years at a TV station in Bend, Oregon, primarily as a multimedia journalist/reporter, but also as a producer, anchor, and even a weather presenter. He can be reached at [email protected].